From Restorative to Relationships: Incorporating Justice into Education
- Understanding the challenges with the concept of Restorative Justice (RJ), particularly Restorative Justice in Education
- Explain how Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) has evolved from the practice of RJ itself (as the indigenous tradition and justice practices have used it)
- Recognize a need to re-conceptualize, rename, and reapply the concept of RJ in schools with a new concept that represents a mentality, a way of being (not a practice) that can be used to shape ‘being’ (actual interactions and actually being—engaging, existing, experiencing, responding to people, relating to others) in schools and the field of education.
- Introduce “relationships first” as that “concept” (the way of being)
- Speak to the future of Relationship First, what it means for schools, Restorative Justice theory, and practices and how it responds to the limitations of prior understandings of Restorative Justice in schools while also incorporating the ‘good’ tied to Restorative Justice in schools/education
